1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of this disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A multifunction peripheral (MFP) is a type of an image forming apparatus that includes functions of a digital copier, a facsimile machine, a printer, and a scanner and is used in various user environments.
Here, let us assume an environment where multiple MFPs and printers are connected to each other via a network, document data obtained by scanning documents with the MFPs are stored in a file sharing server, and the stored document data are output later using the MFPs or the printers. In such an environment, different MFPs on the network may generate document data in different file formats and this may cause a problem.
For example, let us assume a case where an MFP 1 scans a document to generate document data in the tagged image file format (TIFF) and stores the document data in a file sharing server, and a printer 1 is used to output (or print) the document data stored in the file sharing server. In this case, if the printer 1 does not support the file format (TIFF) of the document data, the printer 1 cannot output the document data.
Meanwhile, there is a known network distributed system where if an apparatus cannot provide some or all of services requested by the user, the apparatus finds other apparatuses that can provide the services and requests the found apparatuses to provide the services requested by the user.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-199300 discloses a distributed system where apparatuses connected via a network complement services of each other. The disclosed distributed system includes a search unit for searching multiple apparatuses to find resources necessary for a requested service, a determination unit for determining whether the found resources satisfy a resource publication policy, and a providing unit for providing the service by coordinating the resources that satisfy the resource publication policy.
As another example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-192077 discloses a distributed system where an apparatus searches for other apparatuses that can provide a requested service. The disclosed distributed system includes a service scenario describing functions necessary to provide a service and the relationship between the functions in a general notation, a context that provides criteria for selecting apparatuses used to provide the service, an extracting unit for extracting the apparatuses necessary to provide the service from the service scenario, a detection unit for detecting apparatuses that are in locations where they can provide the service to a service requester, and a providing unit for providing the service to the service requester by coordinating the detected apparatuses based on the context.
If the disclosed technologies are applied to the above described environment, the printer 1 may be configured to find another printer or MFP supporting the TIFF format and to request the found printer or MFP to output the document data. Thus, the disclosed technologies allow the user to output the document data even if the printer 1 does not support the TIFF format.
However, the disclosed distributed systems have problems as described below. First, the disclosed configurations complicate a system. For example, the disclosed distributed systems require a unit (or function) to search for or detect apparatuses that provide necessary resources or services. It is generally preferable to simplify the configuration of a system and thereby to reduce the costs of the system.
Also with the disclosed configurations, if the user operates a first apparatus to perform a print process and the first apparatus requests a second apparatus to perform the print process, the user needs to move to the second apparatus to pick up the result of the print process (e.g., a printout). It is generally preferable and convenient for the user to obtain the result of the print process at the first apparatus that the user operates. Also, if many processes are concentrated on an apparatus that can provide a requested service, the performance of the system may be reduced.